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\title{Computer Science 271 \\
Software I}
\author{Dr. Stephen Bloch \\
office 112 Alumn\ae\ Hall \\
phone 877-4483 \\
email \texttt{sbloch@boethius.adelphi.edu} \\
office hours: Monday, Wednesday, and \\
4:20-5:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. \\
Other times by appointment.}
\maketitle
\section{Prerequisites}
This course assumes you have taken and passed CSC 171 (``Introduction to
Computer Programming'') and CSC 172 (``Introduction to
Algorithms and Data Structures''), and that you either have taken or are
now taking CSC 270 (``Survey of Programming Languages'').
This course will demand a lot of time programming, testing, and debugging
in C, particularly in the latter half of the semester.
If you have
\emph{not} taken CSC 270 but are familiar with the C or C++ programming
language, you should have no problem; otherwise, you should reconsider
taking this course.
\section{Subject Matter}
This course will explain the basic concepts common to many computer
operating systems and introduce you to a great number of tools and
features provided by operating systems, especially \unix, which is
currently the most popular at academic and research institutions and
coming into widespread use elsewhere.
The \unix\ operating system has more personality than most, not
because of how it works but because the people who built (and continue
to build) it left such a distinctive mark on it with their senses of
beauty, humor, and responsible behaviour. These have led to a system
which, once you've grasped its fundamental philosophy, allows you both
to make efficient use of your time and to have fun at it.
The creators of \unix\ used computers
all day, every day, and wanted to use them as efficiently as possible.
These people loved elegance and simplicity, and hated re-inventing the
wheel, so they built a number of simple tools that could be combined as
needed in billions of ways. They also loved whimsy, so you will find a
lot of puns and jokes built into the system. On the other hand, they
believed strongly in personal responsibility, so destructive pranks,
invasions of privacy, and insults are strongly discouraged --- usually
not by rules, but by peer pressure. \unix\ has evolved from a computer
system to a philosophy and finally to a community. I hope, among other
things, to make you productive and civilized members of that community.
A disadvantage of building the whole system out of simple tools is that
you need to learn a lot of simple tools before you can do anything. So
in the first half of the semester you'll read a lot of documentation
and try your skill on small examples. In the second half of the semester
the emphasis will shift from reading about \unix\ tools to actually using them.
Many of the people in this class are taking CSC 270 concurrently.
You'll need to learn the same \unix\ tools and commands for both courses,
but whereas for 270 it will suffice to learn only their simplest, most basic
uses, in this class we'll discuss each tool and command in greater detail.
\section{How to Learn \unix}
This is not a theoretical course; it is a very practical, hands-on course.
To learn the stuff I expect you to learn, you \emph{must} spend a lot of
time on the computer \emph{trying things}. Every time you read about a
new command, or hear me describe one in lecture, \emph{try it}.
\emph{Invent} new ways to use it, beyond what I or the textbook have
described. \emph{Play} with it.
The
best way to learn \unix\ is to use it until you don't even have to think
about the most common commands~--- your fingers know them by heart.
\pagebreak[3]
\section{Texts}
The main text for this course is \emph{An Introduction to Unix, with X
and the Internet}, by Paul S. Wang. I expect you to read most
of the book by the end of the semester, about twenty pages per class meeting.
(We'll skip a few sections, most notably the section on network
programming using sockets --- I'd love to cover this, and encourage you
to read about it on your own, but there isn't enough time in the
semester.)
I may also give some reading assignments in class handouts,
on the World Wide Web, by email, in magazines, and in the CSC 270 textbook.
\textbf{You are responsible for everything
in the reading assignments, whether or not I discuss it in a lecture.}
\section{Grading}
As I write this (a week before classes start), I envision four homework
assignments, each worth 15\% of the semester grade,
a midterm worth 15\%, and a final exam worth 25\%.
I may change this somewhat as the semester unfolds.
% These numeric grades will be converted to letter grades as follows:
% I'll draw a curve showing the distribution of numeric grades, and look
% for naturally-occurring ``clumps''. For each clump, especially the
% top and bottom ones, I'll examine some exam and
% homework papers to decide what letter grade seems appropriate. This
% method corrects for excessively hard or excessively easy assignments
% while not penalizing anybody for having genius classmates.
Exams must be taken at the scheduled time, unless arranged in advance
or prevented by a documented medical or family emergency. If you have
three or more exams scheduled on the same date, or
a religious holiday that conflicts with an exam or assignment due date,
please notify me in writing within the first two
weeks of the semester in order to receive due consideration.
% (and I'd
% prefer it if you let me know earlier --- you should know within the
% first week of class when all your exams are).
Exams not taken without one of
the above excuses will get a grade of 0.
Homework and programming
assignments will be accepted late, with a penalty of 1/3 per 24 hours
or portion thereof after they're due. An hour late is 33\% off, 25
hours late is 67\% off, and after 48 hours don't bother turning it in.
It's still a good idea to do as much of it as you can, however,
because I'll assume on the exams that you've done the homework.
Programs are not abstract works of art,
they are supposed to run and solve real problems. So if I get a program
that doesn't compile or run, or a program that has little or nothing to do
with the problem I assigned, I will give it a zero, no matter how much
time you put into it. Don't bother turning in a program you haven't
tested yourself.
\section{Ethics}
Most of the assignments in this class are to be done individually. You
may \emph{discuss general approaches} to a problem with classmates, but
you \emph{may not copy} large pieces of programs or homework solutions.
If you do, \emph{all} the students involved will be penalized.
All work on an exam must be entirely the work of the one
person whose name is at the top of the page. If I have evidence that
one student copied from another on an exam, \emph{both} students will be
penalized; see above.
\section{Schedule}
This class meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:15 to
1:30 PM, except on University holidays or if I cancel class.
%
% \subsection{Floating Events}
All dates in the following schedule are tentative, except those fixed
by the University; if some topic listed here as taking one lecture in
fact takes two lectures to cover adequately, or {\em vice versa},
the schedule will shift.
% In no case will an assignment be due earlier than indicated in the
% following schedule, but some may be due later; this will be announced
% in class a reasonable time in advance. I'll try to keep an updated
% version of this schedule available online.
All reading assignments below are from the Wang textbook unless stated
otherwise.
I expect you to have read the specified chapters in the textbook
\emph{before} the lecture that deals with that topic; this way I can
concentrate my time on answering questions and clarifying subtle or
difficult points in the textbook, rather than on reading
to you, which will bore both of us. \textbf{Please read ahead!}
\pagebreak
\begin{tabbing}
{\bf Date(s) \hskip10pt} \=
{\bf Assgnmnt} \=
{\bf Reading \hskip60pt} \=
{\bf Subject} \kill
{\bf Date(s)} \>
{\hskip-13pt \bf Assignment} \>
{\bf Reading} \>
{\hskip40pt \bf Lecture Subject} \\
%
2 Sept \> \> \> Accounts, passwords, what is \unix? \\
4 Sept \> HW1 \> Intro, 1--1.5 \> The Basics of Everything \\
9 Sept \> \> 1.6--1.14, \texttt{info info} \> More Basic Commands \\
11 Sept \> \> 2 \> The \texttt{vi} text editor \\
12 Sept \> \> \> Last day to add courses \\
16 Sept \> \> 3 \> Windows and keyboards and mice, oh my! \\
18 Sept \> \> 4 \> More on electronic mail \\
23 Sept \> HW1 due \> 5--5.7 \> Commands and Filters \\
25 Sept \> HW2 \> 5.8--5.14 \> Filters and Pipes \\
26 Sept \> \> \> Last day to drop courses \\
30 Sept \> \> 6 \> The Shell Game \\
2 Oct \> \> \> Rosh Hashanah, no classes \\
7 Oct \> \> 7--7.7 \> Automating the Shell \\
9 Oct \> \> 7.8--7.18 \> More of the same \\
14 Oct \> \> 8 \> The \unix\ file system \\
16 Oct \> \> 9--9.7 \> Using the Net \\
21 Oct \> HW2 due \> 9.8--9.12, Web pages \> More Net stuff; review for midterm \\
23 Oct \> \> \> Midterm exam \\
28 Oct \> \> \> Discuss midterm \\
30 Oct \> HW3 \> 10--10.5, \texttt{man} pages \> Shells, programs, and \texttt{stdio} \\
31 Oct \> \> \> Last day to withdraw from classes \\
4 Nov \> \> 10.6--10.9, \texttt{info gdb} \> Debugging \texttt{C} programs \\
6 Nov \> \> 11--11.6 \> Low-level \unix\ I/O \\
11 Nov \> \> 11.7--11.15 \> Process control \\
13 Nov \> HW3 due \> 11.16--12.3 \> More on process control and I/O \\
18 Nov \> HW4 \> handouts, \texttt{man flex} \> The \texttt{flex} scanner generator \\
20 Nov \> \> 13--13.7 \> The \texttt{make} utility \\
25 Nov \> \> \> \texttt{make} meets \texttt{flex} \\
27 Nov \> \> \> Thanksgiving --- no classes \\
2 Dec \> \> \texttt{man rcsintro}, \emph{etc.} \> The \texttt{rcs} version-control utility \\
4 Dec \> \> 14 \> \LaTeX\ and document preparation \\
9 Dec \> \> \> Catch up and review for final \\
11 Dec \> HW4 due \> \> Catch up and review for final \\
16 Dec \> \> \> 1:00--3:00 PM, Final Exam
\end{tabbing}
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Homework assignments
HW1: demonstrate ability to use basic commands in my office
HW2: write a shell script using filters, I/O redirection, etc.
HW3: write a program using I/O and command-line arguments
HW4: write a shell with built-in commands and searched-for commands